Sales strong in First Coast stores

Looking over the books, Owen Scott, owner of the Jacksonville Running Company, said it looked as if sales were up around 15 percent for the month of December.

He said for his specialty store, which focuses on accessories and items for runners, the pick-up in sales started right around Christmas.

"We do twice as much business our second 15 days as opposed to our first 15 days, which is hard to fathom sometimes," Scott said.

He believes it's around that time that people go over their gift lists and remember their one uncle who's hard to shop for, so they head on over to his store.

And to other small retailers, which don't have the mega-marketing machines of the large stores, but still offer some nice sales and super discounts.

Tori Sell, the manager of Debonair in Fernandina Beach, which sells handbags, jewelry and accessories, said sales started to pick up as it got closer to Christmas, with Monday, Dec. 23, being her busiest day thanks to her discounts.

In St. Johns County, Jennifer Ellen-Ellis at Olde Towne Toys was also pleased with the pace of their holiday sales. Like Sell, Ellen-Ellis also had specials going on to get customers in the door.

"I would say probably it [increase in business] started a week and a half before Thanksgiving," she said, adding that Hanukkah coming early also helped.

She said Small Business Saturday, a push by American Express for consumers to shop local on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, was busy, but she can't say for sure if it was busier than the other Saturdays leading up to Christmas.

Joy Crawford, owner of Charm Boutique in Riverside, said she saw an increase in traffic on Small Business Saturday as well as on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

"It wasn't an overflow of people, but it was a consistent flow," Crawford said.

For Black Friday, Crawford opened four hours earlier and called in a couple of friends to help her manage the store. With more customers than usual, Crawford believes her marketing push on Facebook paid off.

"I would say we saw a 30 percent increase compared to a random Friday," she said.

Like many of the other retailers, Krissi Dane, owner of EmbroiderMe in Lake Asbury, said she started to get busy right around Christmas.

"I think people are starting to come around a little bit with their finances and their job positions," she said.

Don Capener, dean of the Davis College of Business at Jacksonville University, said Dane is on to something.

Jacksonville is actually at an advantage compared to other parts of the country, Capener said, citing our "better than expected" real estate recovery along with a better employment outlook - specifically hiring in the financial sector.

"Jacksonville is looking at a more positive employment outlook than we expected a year ago so many feel better about making that extra holiday purchase," he said.

Ashley Phinazee, owner of Colie's in Fernandina Beach, said if shoppers took the time to visit some of the smaller boutiques they'd be pleasantly surprised to find some great deals and a lot more unique items.

Phinazee moved to the downtown historic area next to many other stores, so she's able to benefit from the foot traffic. She said her Black Friday numbers this year were easily 60 to 70 percent higher than last year.

Richard Pinto, whose business Sunburst Crystal is on the busy St. George Street in St. Augustine, said the nice weather this year leading up to Christmas also was a factor contributing to good sales.

A spokesperson with the National Retail Federation said official numbers regarding holiday shopping won't be available until mid-January. But the organization expects to see an increase in holiday spending this year compared to last year. It estimates that shoppers will have spent $602.1 billion in November and December compared to last year, an increase of 3.3 percent.

There were some small retailers that didn't do as well as expected, though.

Trace Evans, owner of Meow and Barks Boutique in San Marco, said her sales were actually better last year. Overall, she said sales have been down about 15 percent.

"This was a season of last-minute shopping," she said.

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